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Aurora's unique field of solar panels flourishes as testing site

By Mark JaffeThe Denver Post

Posted:
02/03/2012 01:00:00 AM MST

Updated:
02/03/2012 01:14:03 AM MST

Solar panels are on display at SolarTAC in Aurora. Since breaking ground in 2009, the public-private partnership has more than doubled its membership. Companies and research groups pay to use parcels of SolarTAC to field test solar projects. (Special to The Denver Post)

Grade it, fence it, make permitting speedier — and they will come. But in this field it isn't dreams but solar panels of varying shapes and sizes that are sprouting.

On the eastern edge of the city of Aurora, a unique solar test facility — the Solar Technology Acceleration Center, or SolarTAC — is flourishing.

Since breaking ground in 2009, the public-private partnership has more than doubled its membership to seven companies and research groups, and has nearly filled up its 74-acre site.

The facility — managed by MRIGlobal, a nonprofit helping oversee the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden — is negotiating with Aurora to add 200 acres.

"The city is inclined to say yes," Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan said. "There are just some i's to dot and t's to cross."

From the city's viewpoint SolarTAC has taken land of limited development value due to its proximity to Denver International Airport and, in Hogan's words, created "a success story that will benefit the city for decades."

SolarTAC offers parcels to companies to field test utility-scale solar projects. The sites come with road access, electricity and a quick, one-stop city permitting process.

"If a company went out to do their own field test, it could take years to get a permit. We do it in six to eight weeks," said Dustin Smith, SolarTAC's executive director.

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A company can become a member for $300,000, plus infrastructure fees, for use of a parcel for three years.

"This is an approach that has never been done before," Smith said.

The facility wouldn't have gotten started without Xcel Energy, SunEdison and Abengoa Solar investing more than $6 million.

"Our research out there is intended to better understand how to integrate solar" into the power grid, said Jack Ihle, Xcel's manager of environmental policy.

Xcel leased a tractor-trailer-size battery from Texas-based Xtreme Power and is experimenting with storing and releasing energy.

The $2.3 million that Xcel has invested in SolarTAC has come from shareholder funds, not ratepayers, Ihle said.

SunEdison, the country's largest solar installer, is testing a variety solar panels to see which are most efficient, and Abengoa is testing construction techniques.

The three founders have been joined by Amonix, Hittite Solar, the utility-industry-funded Electric Power Research Institute and the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, which is owned by MRIGlobal and Battelle.

"A benefit of having our installation at SolarTAC is our partnership with EPRI and NREL," said Carla Pihowich, Amonix marketing vice president. "Having performance and reliability validated by recognized third parties is valuable to continuing to bolster confidence in the technology."

Smith said he is talking to more companies and that economic development agencies from around the country are studying the model.

"When we started, it was a pile of dirt, and it is hard to show that to a prospect," Smith said. " Now you can see the potential."

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